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Crime & Safety

Two of Six Charged So Far from November Prostitution Sting

Two illegal aliens charged with promoting prostitution await a court appearance in Southampton.

Two women who were arrested on prostitution charges in Riverside last month recently appeared in court in Southampton. Neither was charged for prostitution.

Berenice Rojas, 22, with residencies listed in Queens and Mexico, received an ACOD - Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal - meaning the charge would be dismissed Dec. 3, 2011, if she commits no further illegal acts. Fabiola Garduno-Estada, 23, of New Jersey and Mexico, was found guilty of disorderly conduct and fined $125.

The women's attorney, Roger Asmar of New York, declined comment on the case.

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The Southampton Police Street Crime Unit arrested six in mid-November in a prostitution sting at a residential home on Vail Avenue. Police said at the time that the women serviced anywhere from 30-90 customers a day.

The head of Southampton Town's Street Crime Unit, Sergeant James Kiernan, previously related the women told police they had not been forced to work at the brothel. "They were doing it for economic reasons," Kiernan said.

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In addition, police have also charged two men with promoting prostitution and two more with patronizing a prostitute. All four remain to be seen in court.

Manual Lopez-Garcia, 23, of Moriches and Guatemala City, and Francisco Israel Gonzalez-Charvirria, 36, of Hampton Bays and Mexico, were charged last month with operating a house of prostitution. They are currently on "ICE hold" by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and have a date in Southampton Town Justice Court Jan. 18. The men, illegal aliens, are being detained in the Riverhead Correctional Facility.

Austin Mangham III of Riverhead, the attorney for Lopez-Garcia and Gonzalez-Charvirria, said, "As far as I know, these men have been charged with no prior crimes."

If Lopez-Garcia and Gonzalez are convicted of promoting prostitution, they must serve whatever time their sentence decrees in America; then Immigration Customs and Enforcement would start the process of deportation.

The two "johns" arrested in the police raid, charged with patronizing a prostitute, are Luis Gabriel Mateus, 33, and Emigdio Rayes (aka Emigdo Gonzales) 24. Both are due in Southampton court Jan. 12. Their attorneys, Keith O'Halloran of Westhampton Beach (for Mateus) and Michael Malone of Southampton (for Rayes) have not returned calls to their offices.

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